


Second Child, Restless Child

by UnderTheMoonlitDay



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Adora is a gay mess, Best Friend Squad (She-Ra), Catra is a gay mess, F/F, How Do I Tag, I suck at tags, Shadow Weaver is a dog, Swift Wind hates Sea Hawk’s singing, Swift Wind is a dog, Will update these as I go - Freeform, up to no good
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-23
Updated: 2021-03-05
Packaged: 2021-03-10 07:21:59
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 19,546
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27689570
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/UnderTheMoonlitDay/pseuds/UnderTheMoonlitDay
Summary: After graduating college and spending a year travelling abroad, Adora has returned home to work for her best friend, Glimmer, and her family at Bright Moon Forest and Wildlife Reserve as a dogsled guide. Chaos ensues as the best friends squad is reunited, but there is someone who is not quite as thrilled.Catra, a seasoned outdoor guide with a skill for dogsledding, had to convince Angella that she deserved the job. She is not too pleased to see most of the staff body is Glimmer’s friends, but this blonde, Adora, is a new kind of irritation...OR:Adora and Catra and the best friends squad are dogsled guides. Chaos ensues.
Relationships: Adora & Catra (She-Ra), Adora/Catra (She-Ra), Bow/Glimmer (She-Ra), Mermista/Sea Hawk (She-Ra), Netossa/Spinnerella (She-Ra)
Comments: 15
Kudos: 62





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys!
> 
> This story is based on my last job I had which was immense fun! I’m not sure how many chapters this is going to be, but it’s going to be fun to write it! If you have any questions feel free to ask!

Adora pushed her way into the building marked “Blacksmith Shop”, glancing at her watch to make sure she wasn’t late. Three minutes to spare! She let out a small sigh of relief and stood awkwardly by the door as she observed the group of people gathered here. It was 7:30 AM on the first Tuesday of November. Her first day of work at Bright Moon Forest and Wildlife Reserve, and she was excited and nervous to begin!

At the head of the room, facing the door Adora had just charged through, was a very regal looking couple. Their names were Micah and Angella and in a setting such as this one, they looked imposing, severe almost, a royal king and queen observing their court. But Adora knew them well. They were her best friend’s, Glimmer’s, parents. Outside of work they were soft and kind hearted people who still found the time for their daughter. Speaking of Glimmer, as though her thoughts manifested the young woman, Adora suddenly blinked and realized she was standing in front of her with a huge smile on her face and a twinkle in her soft violet stare.

“You made it!” She exclaimed by way of greeting, wrapping Adora in a bear hug that had the blonde grinning widely. “Did you find the place alright? Did you have any troubles getting into the apartment?”

“Yeah, it was easy to find on Google Maps,” Adora replied, waving her phone. “Long drive though. Six hours I think? Glad I moved here! And yes, a lady by the name of Scorpia, I believe, let me in?” She had arrived late in the night last night, and after six hours in her Subaru Outback, she had wanted nothing more than to sleep for all eternity. Luckily for her, a hulking, bleached haired woman who introduced herself as Scorpia had let Adora in after a brief hug and showed her her room. The staff apartment was a small space, four bedrooms branching off a community kitchen/living room underneath the restaurant onsite. Supposedly there were three of them living there including Adora, but she didn’t get a chance to meet the third.

“Oh good, I’m glad! Scorpia is really nice, you’ll see!” She tugged lightly on Adora’s arm, already turned around and going back towards the centre of the room. “Come sit with me and Bow, we are _dying_ to hear what happened after college!”

Bow, Glimmer’s best friend since diapers and the third member of the Best Friends Squad that the three of them created in college, looked up as Glimmer dragged Adora over. With a friendly smile, he lifted a dark green parka off the seat beside him and patted it so she knew to sit.

“Glad you could make it!” He said with a smile. “Glimmer hasn’t been able to stop talking about you working here since her parents bought the place!” He wraps his arms around the girls and pulls them close for a hug, announcing, “The Best Friends Squad is back together again at last!”

There was a scoff behind them which had Adora turning to try to find the source of it. It came from a tall, lanky girl no older than herself sitting in the window sill and casually swinging one long leg. She had the wildest hair that Adora had ever seen, which only could be described as a thick mane of brown hair, and her glittering eyes were two different colours—a brilliant blue like the jewelled sky, and the bright yet soft light of autumn grass. Realizing she was staring, Adora frowned.

“What’s so funny?”

“I just find it pathetic that this entire place is just one big friendship circle.” Glimmer growled deep in her throat and Adora’s confusion grew. The other girl rolled her eyes and explained, “Most of the new staff here are Sparkles’ best friends.” She tossed her head to a furiously blushing Glimmer. “But lucky for me, I got in on my own merit.”

Ready to throw a scathing comment back, Adora was interrupted as Angella stood from her spot at the front of the room.

“Good morning, everyone,” she began, the hint of an English accent evident in her soft voice. The room of about twenty or so people stopped their murmuring and milling about, and quickly all found spots. All except the girl in the windowsill, who just rocked her foot lazily. “It’s good of so many of you to come to our morning meeting. Firstly, I would like to welcome Adora to the Forest. Adora, why don’t you tell us a bit about yourself?”

Adora felt her mouth go dry and her heart pound hard as nineteen pairs of eyes turned to look at her—the girl in the sill continued to glare outside. She cleared her throat and awkwardly waved, shifting in her seat as she tried to figure out if she should sit or not. Eventually, she decided to just stay seated. “Hello,” she mumbled. She glanced nervously from face to face. Many seemed curious and intrigued, and there were a few who just appeared to have just rolled out of bed and weren’t all there yet. “I’m Adora. I went to the same college program as a Glimmer and Bow, then travelled for a year. Now I’m just really excited to see what this job has to offer.”

She let the air leave her lungs in a whoosh, and quickly sat down as people muttered welcomes before turning back to Angella. “Adora will be helping Misty and Perfuma in the office, as well as helping out wherever needed on dogs or in the Wolf Centre. Speaking of, Catra!”

There was a sharp intake of breath, almost like a hiss, and Adora turned to the girl behind her and saw her tensing slightly. Her multi-coloured eyes blinked once, slowly, and then she started talking. “The wolves are doing good. The fence is going to need to be walked soon after the big storm two days ago, but I’m not worried. I just need someone else to come with me when I do walk it.”

“Wait. What wolves?” Adora whispered to Glimmer.

“Our pack of wolves at the Wolf Centre,” Glimmer whispered back. “Catra helps Morgan take care of them, especially when she’s on vacation like what she is now.”

More questions boiled up inside her, but Adora kept her mouth shut as the girl—Catra—continued. “The dogs are getting a little antsy for training, so today will be a good day to start.”

The meeting went on for about a half hour. Just as Adora was about to doze off, still catching up on her sleep from the night before, she felt a nudge on her shoulder and jerked her head up to see Bow standing in front of her with an extended hand. “Come on,” the boy said with a smile. “Me, you and Sea Hawk have to get started on the kennels. Catra will join us when she’s done walking the fence.”

Adora looked around for the girl with the wild hair, but couldn’t find her. A man in a blue jacket was standing behind Bow, staring longingly at a beautiful dark skinned woman with dyed blue hair swished over a shoulder. When he turned back to the two of them, there was a wild, roguish grin on his face and his index finger was rubbing the moustache on his top lip thoughtfully. “Hello!” He exclaimed, throwing out a gloved hand towards Adora. “The name is Sea Hawk, and I hear you’re ready to go on an adventure!”

Adora glanced at Bow in alarm. This Sea Hawk character seemed to be a bit jittery and theatrical, and it startled her.

“Don’t worry about him, he’s only a bit show off-y and this... dramatic when Mermista is nearby.” Bow tossed his head towards the dark skinned woman on the other side of the building. “That’s Mermista there. Everyone calls her Misty though. Mermista is a mouthful.”

Sea Hawk seemed to have lost interest in Adora in a matter of seconds, because he turned and quickly escorted the one named Misty out of the building. “Is his name actually Sea Hawk?” She asked quietly.

Bow laughed. “No, it’s just a nickname. His real name is Sean, but he hates to be called anything but Sea Hawk.”

As they made their way out of the warm building and into the cold, Glimmer pounced on Adora with a shriek that had the blonde flinching from the early assault on her eardrums. “Glimmer,ow!”

“Sorry,” the shorter girl replied with a pat on Adora’s head. “I’m just so excited you’re here! Just wait till you meet the dogs! Bow and I will—”

“Glimmer!” The slightly harsh voice of Angella Moon interrupted the conversation and the trio of friends turned to Glimmer’s mother. She was a taller, willowy version of Glimmer, with the same strawberry blonde hair and strange violet eyes. Currently, she was frowning down at her daughter. “Just where do you think you’re going?”

“To the kennel, to show Adora!” The young woman replied, jutting her chin slightly in defiance. Bow and Adora exchanged a look and Adora took a step back. They knew Glimmer and Angella had a rocky relationship, but it appeared that they were about to witness one of the famous Moon family showdowns that Bow was always telling Adora about.

The owner of Bright Moon narrowed her eyes and shook her head, her jaw set in the exact same way as Glimmer’s. “I need you in the office with me, so I can show you how to run the books.”

“But _Mom_ —!”

“No buts, Glimmer! You are going to learn how to run this business. That’s non-negotiable.”

Bow leaned into Adora and murmured, “We should probably go now, these things never end well.”

“I’ll follow you,” Adora replied, following Bow with a grimace at the pair of bickering women.

***

Adora wrinkled her nose at the smell of the kennel as she scraped the rake along the cement. She let out a small shriek as a tawny and white husky leapt against the fence with a happy yowl. She shook her head at the bright blue eyed dog with a smile. She had basically glued herself to Adora’s side the entire time, even going so far as to put her front paws around Adora’s boot and chew on the laces, making it nearly impossible to move. She was on the last kennel to clean out of thirty, and she knew that this dog was determined to not let her out of it’s sight, even going so far as to camp out in front of the gate.

From the other side of the fence, Bow chuckled, leaning on his shovel. “I have to say, I think She-Ra likes you!” He said with a grin. “I’ve never seen her take to someone quite as quickly as you.”

Before he could say more, there was commotion on the other side of the fence that ran down the centre of the dog yard. Adora could hear Sea Hawk singing yet another shanty, but then there was a bark and a loud, human squawk followed by a scuffling sound. Bow rolled his eyes. “Sounds like Swift Wind isn’t a fan of Sea Hawk’s singing today. I gotta go rescue him, who knows what the boys are up to!”

Bow quickly slipped through the gate at the well situated in the middle of the yard and disappeared behind the wall of kennels that made up a portion of the fence. Adora turned back to the dog, She-Ra, who was panting happily in front of the gate. Her front paws were under it, and a feigned look of innocence was in her eyes.

“I don’t know if I trust you,” Adora muttered, turning her back to the gate as the golden husky leapt at the fence. She was fluffing up the straw in one of the two barrels in the kennel when a voice made her jump.

“You missed a spot,” someone purred in a husky voice behind her. She jumped, banging her head on the roof of the barrel she was cleaning and turned to see Catra leaning against the wall of the kennel. The dog, She-Ra, was no where to be seen, and Adora didn’t hear Catra come in.

“What?” Adora glanced around frantically as Catra walked closer. “Where?”

“Right... there.” She pointed a black painted nail and rested her index finger against Adora’s forehead.

The blonde snorted and swatted her hand away, mildly irritated, before grabbing her cleaning supplies—rake, shovel, bucket—and making her way out of the kennel. The other girl followed.

“Catra!” Bow called from the other yard, appearing again in the well. “Did you really show up late and let us do all the hard work? That’s low, even for you.”

A rumbling chuckle left her throat. “Oh Bow, don’t you know? Nothing’s too low for me.” She turned her strange multi-coloured eyes onto Adora and motioned her on. “Come on, newb. You look stupid just standing there!”

For the next hour, Adora helped Catra set up two ATVs that they were going to use to run the dogs until there was snow on the ground. Or rather, Adora tried and failed to set up the ATVs while Catra lounged on the seat, calling out insults whenever Adora got the set up wrong, and never offering the right answer. Finally after an hour of struggling, she had decided that she wasn’t sure if she really liked Catra. It was starting to feel a bit personal.

“Do you have a problem with me?” She blurted out. Catra raised a brow, uncrossed her arms from behind her head, and took off the pair of aviators she was wearing.

“What makes you say that, princess?” She snarked. Adora glowered and motioned to the lines.

“You didn’t help at all and you don’t seem to like me very much.”

The wild haired brunette rolled off the ATV and straightened out her jacket. “Nothing in our contract says I have to like you. Maybe I just don’t. As for having a problem with you—” she paused, using her long nails to comb back her mane—“yes, yes I do.”

“But what did I do to you?”

“More like, what _didn’t_ you do, princess?”

“Stop calling me that!”

“Or what, _Adora_?” Catra placed her hands in her back pocket. “It’s what you are! You didn’t even get the job on your own!”

Adora bristled and surged into Catra’s face, nearly nose to nose with her. Catra’s chin tilted in defiance, her multi-coloured eyes glittering with challenge. “You don’t know me and you don’t know anything about me!”

“Whoa guys,” Bow appeared out of the kennel and gently took Adora’s, pushing her back gently. He glared first at Catra and then Adora. “What’s going on?”

“Don’t ask me,” Catra rebutted, taking a step back. “Princess has her panties in a twist.”

Adora felt a flush of anger creep up her cheeks. “She thinks I can’t do my job!”

The brown haired girl snorted and rolled her eyes. “I never said that. Whatever. Sorry for assuming you had experience doing this before.” She didn’t sound sorry in the slightest. “We finally got the ATVs set up.” She motioned behind her to the two set up behind her. One was red and one was blue, but besides that, they weren’t very different from one another. They both had a milk-crate with a cinder block in it tied below the handlebars, and the engine blocks had been removed from them. A long line ran from both front bumpers, the source of Adora’s issues, and different shorter lines branched off from the main one like tree branches. Somewhere between complaining about how slow Adora was taking, Catra had explained they were called the gangline, tuglines and necklines where the dogs would be, one on either side of the gangline—the middle line—and in pairs of two. There were six sections of lines which meant twelve dogs were going out at once.

Bow gave Adora a strange glance. “I know Catra can be a bit... much, but don’t you two think you can get along at work? It’ll make the season a lot easier if we are all on the same page from the get go.”

The two women regarded each other reproachfully, before Catra shrugged, looking bored. “Whatever. I’ll take Blondie out on a run and we will see how it goes.”

Adora growled at the nickname, but Bow shook his head warningly, mouthing “Do what she says.” Catra noticed and smirked but said nothing.

“You, wait up here,” Catra said with a pointed look at Adora. “Because you don’t know what you’re doing. Bow, stay with her. Sea Hawk and I will grab the dogs.”

Bow mockingly saluted the brown haired girl while her back was turned, and Adora let out a snort of laughter. They brought the dogs out one at a time, taking them to a cable that stretched the length of the ATV set up. Separate chains hung from the cable, each with a clip on the end. Bow pointed each dog out and explained their defining features.

“This one here is Swift Wind,” he explained, pointing out the nearly white dog that Sea Hawk had just brought up. He was larger than the dogs Adora had seen all morning, besides She-Ra who seemed to be the size of a small horse, but he seemed rather laidback. His eyes were two different colours, one brown and one blue, and there was a greyish brown patch over his blue eye. “Swift Wind has what’s called a piebald coat. He’s one of only three who have it in our kennel! The others being his father, Ping, and Ping’s sister, Porsche.”

“How do you tell what coat they have?” Adora asked, eyebrows knitting together in worry.

“A piebald coat is where the dog has more white on it’s fur than any other colour. Swift Wind and Porsche are nearly the same looking dog, except Porsche’s eyes are both brown and she’s a little bit smaller. Ping’s nickname here is Dairy Cow, and you’ll see why in a moment!”

Indeed, the next dog Sea Hawk brought up was a white dog with Swift Wind’s body shape and black patches that resembled a cow. Out of the corner of her eye, Adora saw Catra—who was standing with one of the dogs already on the dropline—shake her head as Sea Hawk brought the handsome dog over to Adora. She immediately got greeted with loads of kisses and a quick snuggle.

As soon as there were more dogs up by the ATVs than there were people, it started to get chaotic. The dogs were howling and lunging where they stood, ready to run, while the dogs left behind in the kennel sang their misery about not going. Once eleven out of the twelve dogs were up, the boys sprang into high speed while Catra disappeared down the hill to grab the last dog.

Bow quickly showed Adora how to harness the dogs, so that she could be doing that while Sea Hawk secured the ATV to a tree once the dogs started to be positioned on the gangline and Bow set the dogs up. When everyone was harnessed, Adora awkwardly hung back, unsure what to do while the boys held the front dogs by their harnesses.

“Move it!” Someone snapped behind her. A weight barrelled into Adora from behind and she went down as a rumbling growl came from far too close to her face. She glanced up and found yet another massive dog glaring down at her with strange green eyes that stared out of a deep red mask.

Her eyes widened as the dog growled at her, placing a paw on her chest, but a heartbeat later, Catra’s face peered over top of the dog. “This is Shadow Weaver. She’s a royal bitch, don’t get in her way. If you can’t think of anything to do then sit on the four wheeler and put your helmet on.”

She persuaded the dog to leave Adora alone, then harnessed her in the back of the team, in a spot that had no dog beside it. Adora, blushing faintly, hurried to the ATV and attached her helmet to her head as Catra raced over to join her, all the dogs baying to run, the only thing holding them back being the rope connecting the ATV to the tree. The brunette shouted something to Adora that she missed, and then there was a pop, a whoosh of air, and they were off.

They lurched forward so fast that Adora almost fell off, yelping in an undignified manner, and it was only Catra’s quick reflexes to reach out and grab a handful of Adora’s shirt that kept the blonde from falling off completely. She suddenly realized how silent it was, save for the rushing wind. The dogs were all focused, tails streaming out behind them and ears pinned to their heads.

“Thanks!” Adora gasped, straightening herself and gripping tight to the plastic shell of the quad.

“I told you to hang on,” Catra called back over the wind.

“I couldn’t hear you over the dogs!”

Catra chuckled and released her hold on Adora’s shirt. “Well hang on tight now, princess.”

Adora suppressed a sigh as she felt the stirrings of dislike in her chest. “I am _not_ a princess,” she seethed through her teeth. The other girl smirked.

“Right. Miss My-Best-Friend’s-Mom-Runs-A-Big-Fancy-Business-And-Got-Me-The-Job.”

“Is that what this is about? You’re mad I’m friends with Glimmer?”

“Please, everyone here is friends with Sparkles. None of them have a clue what they’re doing, meanwhile getting all the credit for the job the qualified one did!”

It suddenly dawned on Adora why Catra was so prickly. And while she understood, her temper was still flaring. “That’s mighty judgmental of you to assume that I am just like everyone else here. Maybe I have relative knowledge that Angella and Micah find useful to the business.”

“Well do you?” She asked with a wry grin on her face. “Do you have any experience dogsledding whatsoever?”

“Well no, but Glimmer, Bow and I all did the Outdoor Adventure Naturalist program to be guides so.”

Those two different coloured eyes rolled. “I’ve been a guide for three years, and dogsledding longer than that. I got this job by the skin of my teeth.” She stopped talking and her eyes watched Adora’s face before her face twisted into a bitter sneer. “I doubt you know what that is like.”

Adora opened her mouth to retort, but Catra cast her a side long glance and said in a completely different tone, “I’m going to need you to jump off now.”

“I—wha— _now_?”

“Yes, now. See how the dogs have slowed?” Now that she mentioned it, Adora noticed the run had slowed quite a bit, and she looked ahead to see the dogs trudging up a large hill. “They need help to make it up the hill. Just jump off and keep pace with the rig.”

Her eyes narrowed suspiciously. “And what about you? Why do I have to be the one getting off?”

Catra took her hands off the handlebars and put them on her hips. Immediately the ATV skittered towards a tree. “Do you want to try to steer and brake at the top? ‘Cuz stopping a team of twelve dogs who really don’t want to stop is tricky, even for me. I thought I’d give you the easier of the two jobs. I won’t leave you behind. This time.”

“Promise?”

“I promise.”

Adora nodded at her word and leapt gracelessly off the side of the ATV. Catra put her hands back on the handlebars and glanced over at her as the dogs started to gain speed. “Don’t just stand there! Keep up, dummy!”

She began walking faster, then jogging, then all out sprinting as the dogs gained momentum without the added weight. As they neared the top of the hill, the team was getting further and further away from her, and her heart was roaring in her ears. “Come on, Adora, hurry! I can’t hold them back forever!”

Indeed, Catra’s muscles were taught as a bowstring beneath her black jacket as her hands squeezed the triggers on the bars. The brakes. As soon as Adora was close enough, Catra flung out a hand which the blonde grabbed, and with the help of the girl with the wildly attractive eyes, Adora hauled herself back onto the four wheeler, gasping for breath.

“Not bad.” Adora felt herself beam at the near compliment, and then Catra faced the dogs again. “Okay, guys, let’s go!”

As one fluid, graceful beast, the dogs flew forward, causing Adora to once again rock backwards. She screeched and wrapped her arms tight around Catra’s waist without thinking. The other girl immediately when rigid under her arms, though she didn’t immediately shake Adora off. Her body was warm, something Adora found surprising, and her cedar brown hair tickling her face was surprisingly soft.

“Alright, get off me,” she snapped after a moment, giving Adora a sharp elbow to the ribs. “Hold onto the ATV, not me.”

The blonde smiled sheepishly and quickly unwrapped herself from Catra and gripped the ATV tighter.

***

The rest of the day past by in a busy, chaotic blur, and when five o’clock rolled around, Adora was more than happy to stagger across the parking lot from the kennel, in through the staff door at the restaurant, down the stairs, and fling herself onto her bed in the staff apartment.

“How was your first day?” Scorpia called from the kitchen, jolting Adora awake. She must have dozed off, she didn’t even hear Scorpia come in. The light in the room was different, and it took Adora a moment to realize that darkness had crept into the world while she inadvertently slept. Even though she must have just gotten off of work up in the restaurant, the tall, white haired woman was already back by the oven, making an interesting smelling noodle dish she seemed to be improvising, The apartment was across a narrow hall from the restaurant storage. The kitchen and living room were the main focus and was what you first saw when you walked into the space, and four bedrooms and a bathroom lined two of the walls. The TV was on, buzzing softly in the background, but Adora couldn’t pay attention to what was on.

“Long,” she groaned, getting off the bed and leaning in the doorway. “And testing. That Catra girl really threw me for a loop today.”

“Yeah, she can be... challenging to be around sometimes. That’s why I call her Wildcat.” She snickers softly. “It just seems fitting. Hey, do you want to try some of this dish I’m making ?”

Adora pondered for a moment. Her meal for the night was ramen noodles, probably not even cooked, and Scorpia’s dish smelled absolutely tempting to a tired dogsled guide with not enough energy to cook a full meal. She emerged from her room and asked curiously, “What are you making?”

“It’s a new idea I want to show Stefan. It’s egg noodles fried in garlic infused olive oil, with fried onions, green peppers, celery, rosemary, garlic powder, a hint of lemon juice, and plum sauce.”

“Wow, that sounds like a lot of things happening at once and I’m here for it. Just tell me how I can help and I will do it.”

The noodles hissed as she tossed them in the pan. The taller, slightly older woman pointed at the stalks of celery on the counter and said, “Cut those up and put them in with the noodles.”

After about five more minutes of cooking, Scorpia’s noodles were heaped onto three plates, and a fresh coat of plum sauce was added over the sauce already fried in with the noodles. Adora frowned. “Why are there three plates if it’s only two of us?”

“Well, I thought when she was done singing upstairs tonight, she might be a little hungry.” Sure enough, now that Scorpia had mentioned a singer upstairs in the restaurant, Adora could make out a beautiful woman singing a song with accompanied guitar.

“I take it she’s also our roommate?” At the nod from the other woman, the blonde let out an appreciative whistle. “Not bad!”

“Now dig in!” Scorpia insisted, a gleam in her dark eyes. ”You have to tell me what you think!”

At first, Adora was hesitant to try the dish, but with Scorpia watching eagerly, she could hardly refuse. She scooped up a large fork full and took a tentative bite. The flavours immediately sang on her tongue. Sweet with a little bit of tang, zest from the shot of lemon juice in the mix. There was a pleasant crunch from the lightly cooked celery. She was surprised by the dish, but it made surprisingly a lot of sense that Scorpia could cook, and that it would taste heavenly.

“This is the best thing I have ever tasted!” Adora exclaimed as she shovelled more into her mouth. Scorpia crossed her muscular arms over her chest with a proud look on her face. Suddenly her eyes darted behind Adora and brightened substantially.

“Oh hey! I saved you some food!” Scorpia scrambled to the other end of the counter and picked up the roommate’s plate proudly. Adora scooped another forkful into her mouth. “It’s something I’m working on for Stefan.”

“Thanks,” the voice purred. Adora frowned, filling her mouth with lemonade. Something about that voice was familiar. “ _Hey_ , Adora. How’s it hanging?”

The blonde spat her lemonade everywhere and turned to face the door. Catra was standing in the entrance to the kitchen.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which there is chaos

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took so long! Lots happened, but I finally got this chapter finished! This is the result of two night shifts, and a lot of chaotic memories from college! Warning now for drug and alcohol use in this chapter!

Adora stood on the trail, teeth chattering and body quaking in the morning’s weak light. It was two weeks in to her contract, and at nine in the morning, the frost was still brittle and crinkly on the leaf debris below foot. She had lost all feeling in her extremities about ten minutes ago, and her face felt like it was tightening and burning with cold. She was unprepared to be out this early, with her warmer trail gear still in her nice warm locker. She had been on kennel duty, wearing only a wool base layer and a long sleeved shirt that wicked sweat away, as she was prone to overheating while cleaning the kennel. Normally, Sea Hawk and Bow went out first thing in the morning, and she and Catra would run after first break. However no one told her that Sea Hawk had an unfortunate habit of losing his team, and now she was standing on the trail where Catra had dropped her off on the four wheeler twenty minutes ago, waiting for the team of dogs to come by.

It had been amusing to start, she supposed. She had been cleaning the boys’ kennels when Dakota, one of the old retired males who tended to act like a scout, sounded the alarm. She had poked her head out of Jethro, Jessie and James’ kennel to see Bow walking the ATV down the hill to the kennel, covered in thick grey mud. Sea Hawk posed on the handlebars, one foot in the empty milk crate where the engine block used to be, one leg on the bars, and flexing his arms while shouting, “ _Adventure_!”

“What happened to you two morons,” Catra sassed, joining Adora in the boys’ yard. “How did you lose an entire sled team?”

Bow sighed heavily and pointed at Sea Hawk, who was lost in a tale no one was listening to, about that time when he saved a girl from a savage and wicked moose two summers ago. “ _Someone_ forgot to check the wheel-dog section lines—”

“—And I told you they were fine when I looked at them yesterday.”

“Yesterday isn’t today, Sea Hawk! Things change daily, that’s why we write them down to check on!” Bow sighed heavily and glanced exasperatedly at Adora. It was clear in his eyes that he would rather be anywhere than here, dealing with another mess Sea Hawk made. She had tried her best not to smile. “Anyways, they took off headed up Whispering Woods trail towards Crystal Tower. Think you can head them off?”

“Another mess to clean up after you? Sure, why not?” Catra exited the kennel and took Sea Hawk’s face by his cheeks and gave him a squeeze and a shake. “One day you got to learn to clean up after yourself, big boy. Daddy’s not always going to be there to save your ass.” She winked at Bow as he and Adora exchanged a concerned glance.

So she had fired up the four wheeler with an engine in it (bought solely for this issue, Adora was told), threw a helmet at Adora, and sped off once the blonde was on. She flew down the dirt logging roads guests used three out of four seasons of the year, and then veered onto a forking trail.

“Wait here,” she called, stopping the machine. “They’re probably farther ahead, but the chances are that they will come back this way.”

“What do I do if I see them?” Adora asked in a panic. Catra threw her helmet back on and fixed her a wicked grin.

“Hold on tight!”

And now, Adora was standing at an intersection for two trails, watching her breath cloud and billow in the cold morning air while stomping her feet to get feeling back in them. She heard an ATV roar to life behind her. Turning hopefully, she scanned the bare trees for a sign that Catra had returned. Instead, she caught sight of the bright yellow company four wheeler reserved for office and maintenance staff, and an older man perched on it. Adora suppressed a sigh as the man offered her a greasy smile. It was Dalton, the old bachelor maintenance man of the Forest. Glimmer had warned her that he would attempt to hit on anything with a heartbeat so long as it resembled a woman.

“You do realize it’s your break, right?” He asked, smirking a bit and revealing his teeth, yellowed from decades of smoking. She tried to hide her grimace.

“I’m w-w-waiting for C-Catra,” she stammered through chattering teeth. Dalton let out a laugh that resembled Mr. Krabs from SpongeBob. She winced.

“Well you’ll be waiting awhile! They’re all at the restaurant having a hot chocolate break! Surprised you’re not there with them!”

Confusion sparked in Adora’s eyes. “But... I was told to wait...”

“Sounds like Catra pulled a fast one on ya! Tell ya what, I could use a coffee. Hop on, I’ll give you a lift back!”

She eyed the machine dubiously, until Dalton reached behind him and moved some trail equipment to reveal a second seat. “Special spot for the special lady,” he winked. 

Now she rolled her eyes and jumped on the machine, refusing his offer of a hand to help her up. She ignored his numerous attempts to flirt with her and eventually he got the point. It was a cold ride back. The wind sliced through her thin shirt and seared her right to her bones with irritation. She was going to have some words with Catra. She was surprised to realize her feelings were hurt. She thought she was figuring the strange girl out, but apparently the last two weeks of giving her her space and not rising to the bait of the daily digs at her was all for not. She was shaking with barely concealed rage (or was it cold?) by the time Dalton pulled into the Cookhouse parking lot.

The Cookhouse was the name of the restaurant under which Scorpia, Catra and Adora lived. It was a quaint, cozy place with amazing food to boot. It was also the only bar within twenty kilometres of anywhere. She stumbled off Dalton’s four wheeler with a hastily muttered thank you, and stomped her way inside. The building had low ceilings to accentuate the cozy theme it let off. Benches lined the short hallway to the concession store and bathrooms, and the wood panelled wallswere covered in photos of people enjoying Bright Moon Forest, from dogsled photos and snowmobiling to camping and swimming and fishing in the summer. It was shaped like a T, with the kitchen on the left side of the long part of the T and the store on the right, and the dining area was straight ahead, at the top. The bar was set up at the very top right, and a couple windows had black curtains permanently drawn over them to set the mood at the bar.

The manager of the Cookhouse, a young lady named June, was standing behind the main till where the hallway and the dining room met, right at the entrance of the kitchen. She was polishing a glass and looking slightly bored, but as soon as she locked eyes with Adora, she nodded towards a table in the bar section.

“Your friends are over there. Hot chocolate will be right over, on the house,” she said without Adora having to ask anything. Before she could ask why it was free, June continued, “You look like shit.”

“T-thanks,” she muttered, unable to stop her teeth from chattering. She looked over towards where June had pointed and glowered as she found Bow, Catra and Sea Hawk sitting at a table casually sipping hot drinks. As she watched, Bow raised the mug to his lips. He took a healthy sip from the mug and met Adora’s eyes. He must’ve seen the look on her face because he spat his hot chocolate out everywhere and glanced at Catra, who looked very unimpressed at having received the brunt of the spray.

“Hey Adora,” Catra said, a bored tone in her voice. “About time you showed up. I thought maybe you’d gotten lost.”

“Well you would know,” Adora spat, bitter fury in her voice as she stood behind the empty chair and gripped it until her knuckles were white. “You left me out there!”

“Why yes, it would appear that I did.” She didn’t sound remorseful at all. She grabbed a handful of napkins from the centre of the table and wiped her face free of Bow’s hot chocolate before she slipped a flask out of a pocket of her jacket, poured some into her own drink, gave it a stir and took a deep drink. “But you’re fine, you made it back out.”

“Only because Dalton was nice enough to pick me up!”

Everyone seated at the table winced at that. Bow fixed Catra with a stern glare, a vein pulsating in his forehead. “Catra! This is the reason no one sticks around! Stop ditching new staff in the woods!”

The brown haired girl shrugged. “A trip to the woods unexpectedly builds character. At least she came out before dark this time.”

Bow rubbed his face and groaned. “Rikki wasn’t even employed, she was an _intern_! From _Germany_! It took her two weeks to get over what you did! And then Angella had to pay for all her expenses to get her back home afterwards!”

Catra shrugged. “She wasn’t cut out for the job. Neither was Perfuma.”

“Wait, you left Perfuma out there? Is that why she asked to be done in dogs?”

There was a smile on her face that was purely predator. “Why do you think she has her whole ‘one with nature’ act?” She took a sip of her hot chocolate and shrugged. “All thanks to me.”

Bow out his face on the table and let out a muffled groan while Sea Hawk chuckled. Adora narrowed her eyes and took a couple steps until she was directly across the table from Catra. She felt a slight bit of satisfaction as she saw the girl’s eyes flash with mild panic. The blonde leaned closer, until she was almost nose to nose with the brunette. She saw the girl’s eyes flicker down her face before she hid her emotions behind a bored expression.

“Bring it,” Adora said. Bow lifted his head, an expression of surprise on his face.

“Adora—!”

“What do you mean?” Catra asked, lifting an eyebrow. Both girls ignored Bow.

“Bring. It. Throw your worst at me. I can take it.” Her face split as a wicked grin grew on her mouth. “You can try your heart out to chase me away from this job, but I am staying. Because I deserve to be here and I will show you one day.”

Bow cursed under his breath, muttering something about Adora’s competitive streak. Sea Hawk shouted “Adventure!” but Adora was focused only on Catra. After a moment, the boredom faded from her freckled face and an equally as wicked grin appeared.

“It’s on.”

***

“We can always report her,” Bow said again, later that afternoon. From beside him, Glimmer was nodding enthusiastically. Adora, Bow and Glimmer were in the boys yard, sitting or leaning on the platform in the middle of the yard with dogs draped over them and vying for attention. Catra got called to the Wolf Centre to help Morgan, and Sea Hawk was out doing maintenance on the trails to prepare for the snows which were predicted to arrive later in the week.

Adora scowled as she looked at the dog currently pawing at her chest. It was a long-legged red dog, one she still didn’t know the name to. “No, just because I wasn’t smart enough to walk in after a while doesn’t mean she needs to be reported.” The dog gave a happy howl and shoved his head under her arm. She smiled to herself and gave his ears an enthusiastic scratch while Bow and Glimmer exchanged a doubtful glance. “Besides, when have I ever backed down from a challenge?” She was already scheming of ways to get back at Catra. One idea she was heavily leaning towards was dipping her toothbrush in toilet water.

“That’s the problem,” Glimmer huffed. Bow buried his face in Swift Wind’s thick neck fur to mask his groan. “You think everything is a challenge. This is what almost got you kicked out of college, Adora!”

The blonde snorted. “Hey, I told you before that I could handle that rapid. Lonnie shouldn’t have said anything if she wanted to avoid it.”

Bow lifted his head. “Adora! It was a _Class Five_ rapid! We weren’t trained to do Class Five rapids in canoes! That wasn’t even the skill we were on! You almost died!”

She examined her fingernails. “Worth it though. Lonnie didn’t get hurt and we were fine, there was no issue!”

Bow’s eye started to twitch, but luckily Glimmer saw and decided to diffuse the tension. “Okay, moving away from that now! Adora, have you heard about the party?”

She cocked her head to the side. “Party? What party?”

“Misty from the office is hosting one after work! You should come, everyone is invited.”

Adora hesitated, her hand stilling on the dog she was petting. He gave her an offended glance and leapt off the platform, trotting away to where a cluster of younger males were scuffling with a stick. She had never partied before, not even in college despite her social demeanour. She had gone for game nights with the Best Friends Squad at their dorm room, or gone out for dinner with people from her class, but she had never gone to one of the raging parties the sister program would throw.

For her, the pounding beat, flashing lights and stench of alcohol brought up bad memories of before Razz adopted her. Even now, she could hear the echoes of the parties her foster parents would throw. She could smell the hint of mildew and mold from the basement she’d cowered in as parties escalated into screams. She could hear the blaring music that failed to hide the violence. She could see the flashing red and blue lights as the police escorted her out of the house. She could taste the fear that coated her mouth after her foster parents shouted threats at her of things they would do to her if she snitched. She didn’t know how she was stuck in that house for five years before Razz found her.

Bow squeezed her arm lightly, bringing her back to the present. He was the only person who knew about her past after he witnessed a panic attack while they were supposed to be studying. He smiled gently at her.

“I promise we will keep you away from any and all alcohol,” Glimmer supplied in the silence. She did not know about Adora’s history, but she knew about her aversion to alcohol. She was wise enough to know it wasn’t a lifestyle dilemma with Adora.

“You can even come over to my place to get ready with Glimmer and I,” Bow pressed on. Adora’s gaze switched back and forth between her two friends. She knew it couldn’t hurt to check out a party. In fact, her therapist said it would be beneficial for her to challenge her triggers and try to overcome them. And two of the people she trusted most in the world would be there. She took a deep breath. “Okay, why not?”

***

“Are you going to Misty’s party?” Morgan asked as she slugged a frozen deer over her shoulder effortlessly. Catra spared her a glance out of the corner of her eye, a hand on the bear spray she carried on her belt. The two of them stood in the wolf enclosure, within reaching distance of the gate, their escape. Morgan, as usual, was in charge of lugging around whatever the wolves were eating that day while Catra was on guard duty. The pack still maintained a fear of humans but it was better to be careful, especially when it came to wild animals with some of the strongest jaws in the world.

“You know that’s not really my style,” she said in response, turning back to the pack. There were seven of them in total, black and grey shapes moving on the edge of the tree line. Every now and then there was a growl of displeasure, but for the most part they were as silent as shadows. The wild haired girl kept her eye on the alpha female, a brazen, silvery-black thing named Cyrene with cunning yellow eyes. She out of the rest of the pack would occasionally dare to get closer, to the point where if she wanted to, she could attack them. She never had and today was no different.

“C’mon Catra,” Morgan pressed, putting the deer on the ground and beginning to retreat. Catra followed, neither one of them turning their backs to the wolves. Cyrene made her way down to the deer as they vacated, and both Morgan and Catra adverted their eyes. Not challenging her was a vital part of their training. “Free weed and a good time! What more could you ask for?”

“I might have plans tonight.” She knew leaving Adora out in the woods all morning was a bitch move, but what could she say? She was a bitch through and through. That didn’t mean she wasn’t going to pull a prank on her tonight. Perhaps she would gradually start stealing Adora’s clothes and see how long it took her to notice.

“Well, that sucks,” Morgan replied, closing the gate behind them and locking it once they were in safety. Only once the gate was closed and latched did Catra take her eyes off the pack. “Well if you change your mind, you know where to find us.”

Catra rolled her eyes a bit. Morgan was sometimes too nice. She and Scorpia got along insanely well because of it, but it sometimes made Catra uncomfortable. The rest of the day passed relatively quickly. There weren’t too many people who stopped by to see the wolves with it being a Friday and all, so the two girls worked swiftly to clean the facility while Morgan chattered on about the party. She wasn’t listening. Behind Catra’s two-toned eyes, her master plan was unfolding.

***

“Come on in, Adora!” Bow called as he unlocked the door to his house. She hung back shyly by his white pickup truck, cradling her arm hesitantly. It wasn’t that she was afraid to go into other people’s houses, she just had an ingrained feeling that she would mess something up once she was in.

Glimmer did not share those feelings. She hopped out of the truck, landing hard because of her shorter size, and made her way inside immediately, ducking under Bow’s shoulder. He turned to the blonde haired girl and smiled softly. “It’s okay,” was all he said. From inside, Glimmer offered a smile as well, making herself at home. They knew about Adora’s quirk, and were patient enough to treat her with all the gentleness of a stray cat. The blonde scoffed at herself and made her way in.

Bow’s little green cottage was quaint and cozy. The front door was protected by Etheria’s insane snow load by an overhanging porch and a screened in room off the front offered protection from the swarms of black flies that would pick someone up and carry them away in the summer months. Once inside, Adora was looking over an open living room and kitchen. A nook in the bay windows in the living room was furnished with a small dining table and a bookshelf. A TV sat with an assortment of wires, a laptop and both a PS4 and an Xbox on the far side of the room, and a leather couch and love seat layered with blankets—most the fluffy pink kind that screamed of Glimmer’s taste—bordered the living area and the kitchen area.

In fact, the more Adora looked, the more she could see signs of Glimmer everywhere. Her favourite foods on the shelves, the plate and mug her mother got her for Christmas last year sitting in the drying rack in the sink, one of her favourite books sitting on the table, well worn and dog eared.

“Wow, Glim,” she said with a smile as she looked at the space. “I thought you lived with your parents.”

“Only when they aren’t being utterly annoying,” she replied. “I use the spare bedroom, we save the Nook for other guests. Like you, for example!”

“What is the Nook?”

“Come on! We’ll show you!” Glimmer hopped up the staircase in the corner of the room beside a washing machine, headed upstairs. Adora followed and Bow brought up the rear. Up on the landing of the second floor, there were two door to the left, and one on the right. A window was on the far wall next to a rocking chair and a curtain that went from the far wall to the door on the right. Glimmer pulled back the curtain and in the folds of the slanting roof was a single bed tucked into the corner. A lamp stood on a narrow table next to it. “I give you the Nook!”

Adora chuckled as Bow made his way towards the other end of the hall, opening the far door to reveal a bedroom. “I’m just going to get changed before I make us dinner. Adora, if you want to shower, it’s just in here.” He opened the second door and flipped on a light in the room so Adora could see it was a washroom.

As Adora made her way in to clean up while Bow and Glimmer did the same in their respective rooms, she felt a smile light up her face. This was the first time in a long time that she felt excited to be surrounded by her people without being anxious about doing a good job at work.

***

By the time that they got to the party, there was a chill in the air and the sun had set. Mermista, Perfuma and Sea Hawk lived in a log house just past work. It was huge with an open concept living space, and a carpeted basement straight out of the 60’s. Even the walls were carpeted and reeked of decades of smoking inside. Not many people were there yet. There was no sign of Catra or Scorpia, though Mermista told Adora they don’t normally come to these kinds of events.

She followed Bow or Glimmer around like a lost puppy. Her nerves were building with the rising music and volume of the party, but she wasn’t going to be a spoil sport. They ended up on the deck with Sea Hawk, Perfuma, and two slightly older women Adora hadn’t met yet. They introduced themselves as Spinnerella and Netossa, a couple who worked together at the restaurant with Scorpia, and they were very sweet. Adora was just getting involved in a conversation with the two of them about cooking techniques for spaghetti, when a skunk-like scent reached her nose. Turning, she saw Perfuma putting a lighter back in her purse while holding a joint to her mouth.

“Can I try some of that?” She asked as the joint made its way around the circle. Perfuma nodded while Bow and Glimmer exchanged a glance of surprise. This was the second joint of the night, and often in college she had seen her friends smoking but had never partaken.

“Have you ever smoked before, Adora?” Bow asked with a small frown. She shook her head.

“No, but I want to try it.” Another secret glance past between the two friends. Adora narrowed her eyes. “Glimmer smokes all the time and it calms her down.” She could feel her anxiety growing, threatening a panic attack. If she could dampen that before she embarrassed herself, she was set. Eventually, Bow and Glimmer shrugged at each other and passed the joint over to her. She put it to her lips.

***

Catra had been in Adora’s room, trying on most of her jackets, when Scorpia had found her. She heard a throat being cleared from the door way and turned, proudly showing off the red and white letterman jacket she wore.

“What do you think? Personally I think it’s just a bit too big.”

Scorpia crossed her arms, disapproval on her face. “Okay, I know there’s some kind of weird rivalry happening between you two, but this is taking it too far.”

Catra shrugged and turned back to the wardrobe she was raiding, but then let out an undignified squeak as Scorpia lifted her clear off the ground. “What are you doing?! Let me go!” She shrieked, trying to kick the behemoth of a woman who hauled her over her shoulder and out of the room like she was a sack of potatoes.

“I’m staging an intervention for you, Catra! I was going to ask you nicely if you wanted to go to the party tonight, but now, I am forcing you. You clearly have too much time on your hands!”

Catra practically hissed and growled as she was dragged to Scorpia’s car, a Suzuki that made her friend appear even more giant than she already was, and strapped into the passenger seat, but she knew she didn’t fight as hard as she could have. If she had, Scorpia wouldn’t have made it out the door with her.

“You could’ve at least let me fix my hair,” she groused instead. Scorpia chuckled and threw the car in drive.

“You look great as always, Wildcat.” Catra accepted the compliment with barely a twitch of her head, though it made her feel slightly bad. Not uncomfortable, just slightly guilty. It had been almost a year since Scorpia had admitted she had feelings for Catra, and Catra in her typical fashion, had lashed out angrily and hurt the woman. She hadn’t meant to, she just didn’t feel the same way and wasn’t sure what would do the trick to let her know that. She had overdone it and Scorpia had disappeared for almost a month before she re-emerged and quietly told Catra she was sorry. That would haunt the girl for quite awhile yet.

“So Mermista’s landlords must’ve forgotten the last party by now I guess,” she said instead. Mermista was known to go all out on her parties, to the point where the cops were called to the last party she hosted. Which was saying something, seeing as the nearest police station was an hour away and the closest city was twenty minutes. She had been saying for weeks now that as soon as her landlords forgot about the incident, she was going to host a party to put all the other parties to shame.

Scorpia shook her head. “Apparently Angella got wind of the party. She told Misty to keep the party quiet or there would be consequences.”

By the time they got to the large, log house where Mermista, Sea Hawk and Perfuma lived, the party was already full blown. It was indeed quiet by Mermista’s standards. There was only one person on the roof of the two storey building—and it was Sea Hawk unsurprisingly—and the music was only at blaring loud, not _feel-the-beat-ripping-your-heart-and-bones-out-of-your-body_ loud.

“Are you good to DD tonight?” Catra asked. “I can if you want me to.”

“It’s fine, Wildcat, you go have a good time! I’m just gonna find Perfuma anyway.” Scorpia’s black eyes got the twinkle they always got when she spoke of Perfuma. The blonde haired hippy roommate of Mermista and Sea Hawk had helped Scorpia get over Catra, as well as helped her see the value in herself. They had only recently began exploring their relationship as something more than friends, so she wasn’t surprised that the white haired woman just wanted to hang out with her for the night.

“Go get ’er,” Catra said, slapping Scorpia’s shoulder with a chuckle. As the taller woman disappeared to go find Perfuma, Catra prowled to the kitchen to get herself a beer out of the drink fridge. She spotted Spinnerella and Netossa chatting with Morgan and Mermista in the living room as she passed by it on the way to the kitchen, and she waved at the four of them. Morgan offered her a smile and a raised beer bottle, acknowledging her presence at the party.

She grabbed a bottle and cracked it with her teeth, making her way over to the group she had spotted in the living room. She nearly stumbled over a figure on the floor.

“Jesus Christ!” She hissed, turning to see what tripped her up, and found Adora, sitting cross-legged on the floor. “What the fuck is your—” She broke off as she saw the condition of the blonde. She was hunched over, her chin on her chest, and her hands folded up in her lap, and she sat in a circle of cups of water of varying sizes and shapes. Immediately, her irritation turned into mild concern. “Hey, Adora, are you okay?”

The blonde lolled her head upright and stared, squinty eyed, at Catra. Her eyes were bloodshot and emphasized the blue-gray of her irises. She let out a chuckle and a dopey grin lit up her face. “It’s Catraaaaa,” she slurred, her hands twitching in her lap. “ _Hiiiii_ Catra!”

As she watched, Glimmer walked over with yet another cup of water. She waved at Catra.

“What’s with her?” Catra asked, pointing to Adora. “And why does it look like someone tried to summon a demon in the weirdest way possible and ended up with a dorky blonde instead?”

“Adora’s high,” Glimmer explained, opening one of Adora’s shaking hands and putting the cup of water in it. “It’s her first time smoking, and she smoked way too much. She was crying earlier.”

“Oh.” She took a step back, but Glimmer looked at her with pleading violet eyes.

“Can you watch her for a second? I really have to go to the washroom and I need to find Bow so we can get her home.”

“I’m not a babysitter,” she spat with a curled lip. Glimmer hopped up and pecked her on the cheek, much to her great surprise and discomfort. She let out a growl of irritation and wiped her cheek roughly. Clearly Glimmer was under the influence of something as well, given her affectionate behaviour and slightly blown out pupils.

“Thanks a bunch, Catra! I’ll be right back!”

“Sure, just leave me with the stoned girl, it’s not like I wanted to enjoy myself or anything!” She shouted after her. She took a swig of her beer and turned back to Adora, only to sigh in annoyance. The blonde had disappeared. _Fucking great_. Muttering to herself, Catra stomped off to try to find her.

She knew she wasn’t obligated to stick with Adora, especially because they weren’t friends or anything, but she felt kind of concerned for the girl. She didn’t know what the people at Mermista’s parties could be like sometimes. Besides, it was only until Sparkles came back with Bow. So she went looking for her.

It didn’t take a long time to find her. She heard panicked gasping coming from the hallway closet as she passed it, and upon opening it, she found Adora collapsed in a ball on the floor, blue eyes staring off at nothing, and breath coming out jagged and harsh. As soon as the light hit her, she blinked a couple times and met Catra’s eyes.

“You brought the light back!” She exclaimed, struggling to get back to her feet. “The door ate it.”

Catra lifted an eyebrow and smirked at her. “How did you end up in the closet, you dork?”

“I thought Glimmer was gonna play hide and seek with me,” she said, pouting a little. “But she didn’t.”

“Ah, so you’re a runner when you’re stoned. Got it.” As she began trying to wobble off somewhere else, Catra grabbed her arm. “Hey Adora, let’s play a game!”

As expected, Adora’s head whipped around and her eyes widened comically in excitement. “Okay!” Unexpectedly, her hands clasped Catra’s hand, warm and solid despite trembling lightly.

“We are gonna play Statue, okay?”

“How does that work?”

“We are gonna find somewhere quiet to sit, and we are gonna sit still until Glimmer finds us. The point is to be as much like a statue as you can. Can you do that?”

“Okay!” She flung herself at Catra, who just barely had time to catch her by the armpits and push her back gently onto her own two feet.

“I am way too small to carry you, you’ll crush me.” She snorted and shook her head, leading Adora by the hand towards one of the ground level bedrooms. She kept a firm grip as Adora seemed to have a tendency to want to lie on the floor, but once they were in the bedroom, Catra let her go so she could throw herself down onto the floor however much she liked.

Luckily, no one came into the room to use it for alternative purposes. After ten minutes of Adora trying to sneakily crawl her way out of the room and then becoming distracted by the grains in the hardwood floor, Glimmer and Bow popped into the room. Adora took one look at Bow and broke into a huge, dopey grin.

“Yay! There’s a rainbow!” She shouted, causing Catra to cringe.

Bow grinned back. “You okay there, Adora?”

“Just peachy!” She giggled and then flopped back onto the floor. She looked up at Glimmer. “Glimmer! There’s two of you! That’s nice.”

“So just how much did she have to smoke?” Catra asked, looking from Bow to Glimmer. They both looked slightly ashamed.

“A whole joint,” Glimmer admitted.

“I’m sorry, _what_?”

“She wanted to smoke because the party was making her nervous, and Sea Hawk was teaching her how and he may or may not have let her smoke the whole thing by herself.”

Catra smacked her face. “Well, her tolerance must be outstanding. I don’t know how she isn’t passed out right now, or why you two idiots didn’t stop her. Aren’t you supposed to be her friends?”

Two pairs of guilty eyes met hers briefly before looking away. Bow explained, “We just wanted her to have a good time and not be uncomfortable.”

“Well you over achieved that. Did either of you stop to think if she worked tomorrow?”

“No but that’s okay. We will put her to bed here—”

“Here? In a weird place where you already said she was nervous sober? Why not just take her home?”

Bow sheepishly scratched the back of his neck. “I’ve had a couple to drink. I won’t be able to leave until later.”

“Can’t you take her home, Catra? Isn’t she your roommate?” Glimmer asked. Catra scowled at her.

“I’m not a fucking babysitter!” She snapped. Adora cackled at that. She glared at her, and Adora tried to scowl back but ended up laughing louder.

“You’re mean but you’re _pretty_!” Everyone in the room paused and stared at Adora, but she was clearly not on the same planet anymore. She stumbled to her feet and wrapped her arms around Bow and Glimmer. “You guys are my best friends! That’s why I want you guys to know—” she pointed a finger at Catra and made a weird noise in her throat—“I’m gonna marry her one day.”

Catra laughed harshly at that. “Okay, Adora. Whatever you say. Why don’t you sit back down?”

She was no longer paying attention to Catra, but frowning at Bow. “What’re you doing here?”

“We’ve come to rescue you,” Bow replied with amusement colouring his voice. Adora leaned heavily on Catra and pointed finger guns at him.

“More like... _I’m_ rescuing _you_.” The shorter girl pushed the stoned blonde off of her and shook her head.

“God you’re such an idiot!” Turning to her two coworkers, she scowled. “Fine. I’ll see what Scorpia’s plan is. But if she can’t drive, then Adora is _your_ responsibility. I have a reputation to uphold.”

“Yay! It’s girls’ night in!” Adora attempted to flop into Catra’s arms, but she let her hit the floor with a thunk. She was deadweight and her arms were hurting.

“Do you have to be so mean?” Glimmer grumbled. Catra shrugged.

“I don’t have to be anything, I choose to be the way I am.” She pulled out her phone and sent a quick text to Scorpia asking her to meet them in the guest bedroom, alone.

A couple of minutes later, Scorpia appeared, concern in her face. “Catra? What’s going on? Is everything—” She broke off with surprise when she saw Bow and Glimmer kneeling over Adora, who appeared to be laughing or crying on the floor. “Uh. What is going on?”

“Adora is stoned out of her mind and these two are in no condition to get her home. Are you able to drive us back? I know we just got here, but she works tomorrow.”

Scorpia was nodding before the question was even out of her mouth. “Of course I’ll drive her back! Just help me get her up?” As Scorpia knelt to try to lift Adora, she blinked up at her.

“Wow, you... are a big bug.”

“Thanks for the observation. Are you gonna help me or...?” As Adora began to flop, Scorpia grabbed her by the wrist. “Guess not. Okay! Someone help me get her on my back.”

After a lot of struggling, the four of them managed to get the sack of bricks that was Adora to Scorpia’s car, then into her room. As Catra tucked her in resentfully, Scorpia hung back by the door. “Do you think she will be okay?”

“Just lock the outside doors, I think she should be fine. I’ll stay here until she is asleep so she doesn’t wander off.” She settled on the edge of Adora’s bed. Scorpia nodded.

“I’ll just be in my room if you need me.”

She shut the door on the way out, and Catra looked back at Adora, who didn’t seem to want to move anymore. She frowned at Catra. “You’re not being mean.”

“Nope. I’m too tired to be mean.” She enunciated the sentence with a yawn. “But don’t worry. I’ll be back to normal tomorrow, when I know you’re sober. Try to get some sleep.”

It took Adora awhile, but she eventually settled down. Catra rested her back against the wall and brought her knees up to her chest. She would just sit for a couple of minutes to make sure Adora was indeed asleep, then she would go back to her room.

She woke in the morning, curled up at the bottom of Adora’s bed, with no recollection of ever falling asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you liked it! A lot of Adora’s experience is what happened to me in college. Sharing because I thought it was funny, hope you agree!


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Catra just straight up not having a good time for the first part of this chapter. Shadow Weaver is a bitch, literally and figuratively, and Scorpia is a Newfie. Because why not lol
> 
> TRIGGER WARNING: Mentions of child abuse, briefly, a dog fight, and blood and wound descriptions.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Holy shit this was a chaotic time to write. Many night shifts went in to writing this, and this is a MASSIVE chapter. I think my final count was 14 pages? From someone who normally writes 5-9 page chapters, I was thrilled about this lol 
> 
> I had a bit of a hard time recently, my dog was put down yesterday which really sucked, but I am happy with what I have to the point where I want to share it with you. Enjoy!

“Loosen up, dork!” Catra called from over Adora’s shoulder. “You’re stiffer than a board and the dogs will sense your tension. Plus, it’ll make turning a bitch and your balance will be all off.”

Adora hastened a quick glance over her shoulder. She and Catra were sharing one of the touring sleds with two sets of handlebars and brakes, one in front of the other. The snow had finally come, albeit later than anyone had expected, so Bow, Glimmer, Catra and Adora were out on the sleds for the first time, training both the dogs and Adora before her first tour in a couple of days. Catra, on the back of the sled where there was more control, was standing with both feet on one runner, and one hand resting loosely on the handlebar. Her mismatched eyes were focused on the dogs, but a smirk graced her face briefly as she caught Adora’s glance.

“Don’t make it sound so easy!” Adora grumbled, trying to adjust her weight. “Not all of us have been doing this since the Ice Age like you have!”

Catra let out a cackling laugh, the insult bouncing off her harmlessly. “You mean you can’t relax easily?”

“No shit! Especially not after waking up with my hair _braided into my headboard!_ ” A couple of the dogs on their six dog team looked back, startled by the outburst. Catra laughed again and called the dogs to walk on.

“That was one time! And besides, it was just to keep you from wandering off! High Adora is even more of a child than you are when you’re sober!” Indeed, the morning after Mermista’s party, when Catra had woken up at the foot of Adora’s bed, she had tied a slumbering Adora’s hair into the headboard, just to prove that she was back to normal.

To contest this point, the blonde turned right around to Catra, arms crossed and a very childish pout on her face. “You take that back!”

“You’re digging your own grave!” She protested. The sled rattled as they ran over a thin layer of snow and ice that barely covered a root, and Adora staggered, off balance and surprised. Catra steadied her easily with one hand, shifting her weight back to both runners to make it easier to control. “Shut up and turn around you idiot!”

From the sled ahead of them, Glimmer turned around with a vicious smirk on her face. “Would the two of you stop flirting back there?!” She yelled back. Adora felt her face heat up, but when she turned again to look at Catra, the wild-haired girl had a scowl on her face and she was flipping Glimmer the bird. Glimmer laughed and shot one right back.

For awhile after that, the conversation between Catra and Adora was clipped and snappish. She was quickly learning that Catra wasn’t a fan of Glimmer, for whatever the reason, and that usually when Glimmer was on dogs with them, Catra was always a little bit extra moody.

“So walk me through the dogs we have on our team again?” Adora asked. It was both a way to break the uncomfortable silence that surrounded them, but also to help her recognize the dogs a bit better. It seemed to do the trick. Catra’s brown lost a bit of the crinkle it had obtained, and her eyes softened just a touch.

“You already know She-Ra,” she pointed to the creamy-gold husky leading the team next to a small black-and-white houndish looking dog. “Beside her is Hordak—a sketchy shithead on the best of days—and behind them is Nike and Quest, and Shadow Weaver is in wheel with Kodiak.”

Nike was a pale, orangish coloured husky with bright amber eyes. He was a screamer, always yelling to go for runs unless someone was there to scratch his chin and belly for him, but inside the kennel he was an angel. He was always on one of the platforms in the yard, surveying the other dogs and putting the young dogs in their place. It was no wonder they put him beside one of the yearling puppies, a massive, round headed tough looking red dog named Quest, who was nothing but a big sweetheart. He gave the best hugs, jumping slowly to give Adora enough time to tell him no, and if she didn’t he would wrap his front paws around her torso and squeeze with just enough pressure to make it feel like he was indeed giving her a big hug. Kodiak was a small, copper shadow. He was always underfoot, keeping close to Adora but just out of reach, as if he was a supervisor eyeing her up to make sure she did the job right.

She knew all of the dogs on her team, but she didn’t want Catra’s mood to go foul faster, and she knew that she liked to talk about the dogs. She was thinking of another question to ask, when all hell broke lose.

It started simply enough.

“Adora, push your breaks down a bit harder. There’s a downhill ahead and we are going too fast. The ice is making us go faster than the dogs.”

Adora obeyed. At first it was easy, the sun had melted the layer of ice on the top of the hill, making it nice and soft for the brake to grab. But as they went down hill, the ice got slipperier and slipperier and she had to press harder for the break to help. She-Ra did something odd. She turned and gave Adora a glance. The team seemed to bob up for a moment, and then suddenly, the sled was stopping. Only the dogs weren’t and the force of which they continued trying to go sent the sled up. As it jerked up like a bronco, Catra let out a shriek. She flew forwards into Adora, who in turn was send up over the handlebars of the sled. The only thing that kept her attached to the sled was the iron-like grip onto the rolling, wooden frame. She felt something grab into her leg and as the sled jerked sideways and stopped rolling, she let out a cry of her own as she was dragged along by her leg. The snow hook had caught her.

She pulled herself up and grabbed onto the handlebars, risking a glance behind her. Catra lay limp in the snow where she stopped rolling, head lolled. Adora cried, “ _Catra!_ ” but the girl didn’t move. The blonde turned to where the dogs were headed, further down the hill where Bow and Glimmer had just reached.

“Bow! Glimmer! _Help!_ ” She yelled as loud as she could. Glimmer’s head jerked around and she halted her team as she saw what was happening. Adora’s dogs headed right for Glimmer and Bow’s sled, thankfully, and as Bow leapt off and started running back up the hill towards them, Glimmer grabbed the lead-line between She-Ra and Hordak.

As Bow slowed upon approach of Adora, she waved him on. “Go check Catra first! She’s not moving!” Bow cast a furtive glance at her before continuing sprinting up the hill. Adora watched as Glimmer set her snow hook firmly and made her way back up her team towards Adora’s sled.

“Adora, what happened?” She asked as she gently tugged the snow hook from Adora’s leg. She winced, but luckily her leg was not punctured, only bruised.

“I-I don’t know, one minute we are going down the hill, the next, whoosh, we were in the air!” She looked back up the hill and found Bow helping an awake Catra to her feet. She stumbled a bit, but refused to put too much weight on Bow. She did not want to appear weak.

“We hit a tree root,” Catra explained with a groaning and rubbing her head and her side. She stumbled again, but Bow caught her. “Is the sled alright?”

“If you mean is _Adora_ alright, then I think so.”

Catra shot Bow a withering glare. “I’m fairly sure I could’ve used my eyes to judge that, but ifthe sled is broken then we have bigger issues.” Her face was a stone hard mask that made Adora cringe to see as she examined the sled. It had rolled at least five times going down the hill. “Look’s like the only damage is a cracked brace. Guess that hair poof of yours cushioned the blow, princess.” Catra turned to Adora and flicked the bump she had put in her bangs that morning. Adora scowled.

“Come on,” she continued without another glance at Adora. “Let’s get back so we can take a look at your leg.”

“My _leg_? How’s your head?” Is the first thing Adora could think to blurt out.

Catra shrugged with a tired smirk. “I’ll be fine. My head is harder than it looks.”

***

The trip back was short and tense. Catra fell quiet, her mind roiling with emotion. She ignored any attempts Adora made for conversation, answering in short angry grunts that invited no room for interpretation. _Leave me alone._

By the time they reached the kennel again, the tension was palpable in the air. Bow and Glimmer, either oblivious to it or trying to dismiss it, were their usual annoyingly bubbly selves as they unlocked both the gates and started to let their dogs off the line. Catra ignored Adora as she asked if she should start doing the same. She had been there almost two months, she should know the drill by now.

_Stupid stupid stupid_ , the voice whispered in her mind. A small part of her brain tried to tell her it wasn’t Adora’s fault that she fell, but the larger part that was absolutely and utterly embarrassed at being weak in front of other people shut that up quickly. _They were all laughing at you._

_Shut up._

_You can’t do anything yourself, you even blacked out._

_Shut. UP!_

“Hey Catra?” A soft voice interrupted her internal monologue.

“What?” She snapped. Adora took a step back. Inwardly, she cursed herself for being unable to keep her cool. Her head pounded.

“I was just going to ask if you needed any help putting the sled away,” she muttered, eyes darting away from the grumpy brunette.

Catra sighed. “No, I don’t. Just... put the dogs in their kennels and take their harnesses off and I’ll be there in a second.”

She didn’t wait to see if Adora was doing what she asked as she stomped off to take the broken sled to the mechanic shop where Dalton or John would fix the loose brace. She wasn’t gone five minutes, but when she returned it was to the sound of Adora shouting, and dogs fighting.

Catra’s blood ran cold with dread at the snarling, growling and yelping that reached her ears. She kicked it into high gear and ran to the boys’ yard, where Bow was trying to get some dogs off of each other and Glimmer was standing by keeping others at bay. Bow looked up and met her eye through the fence.

“It started on the girls’ side! Go help Adora!”

Without a word, she bolted into the girls’ yard, looking around for the source of the shouting and the growling. Adora was standing in a kennel, looking knee-deep in panic, and the fighting dogs were tossing each other around the small space. Adora’s yelling was having no effect on the two of them, and it was clear she did not know what else to do.

Catra threw open the door. “Okay, enough!” She bellowed. She took one of the plastic pails that was used for filling up water bowls, and swung it around her head. One of the fighting dogs, She-Ra, stopped what she was doing, but the other dog took advantage and latched onto her ear, pulling backwards. “ _Hey!_ Stop!” Her voice boomed louder than she thought as she slammed the pail into the wall.

The dogs broke apart but the attacker turned fierce greenish eyes onto Catra, teeth bared, and her heart sunk. “Of course it’s the one whose part fucking _wolf_ ,” she sighed. Shadow Weaver was in the wrong kennel, hell, on the wrong side of the _yard_ , and she was in a mood to make Catra’s life a living hell. “Adora, take She-Ra out into the yard.” She had no idea how her voice remained so calm. She didn’t see if Adora was listening, but she heard the gate open and shut.

Shadow Weaver’s full attention was on Catra, and she realized that she had backed the wolf-dog into a corner. “Come on,” she said softly, holding her hand out and approaching the massive red dog slowly. “This isn’t your home.”

Her lips dropped back over her teeth, but her green eyes were distrusting as Catra got closer. “You know me,” she whispered. With her outstretched hand, she grabbed Shadow Weaver’s collar. Too late did she notice that it was a trap. As soon as her fingers closed around the fabric, she could feel the predatory tension _singing_ through the dog’s body, and she snapped, quick as a snake.

Catra screamed as Shadow Weaver’s teeth connected with her arm and squeezed.

“ _Let go of her!_ ” Adora thundered in a voice that Catra had never heard. She turned in surprise as she stomped over and grabbed Shadow Weaver by the collar as the dog dropped Catra’s arm. She showed no hesitation and was all calm, firm dominance. “You do not get to bite her! You don’t even live here!”

To her great shock, Catra watched Shadow Weaver submit to Adora, tail tucked and ears lowered. A pitiful whine left her muzzle and the shock turned to boiling anger once more.

_Failure failure failure_ , sang the voice in her head, which sounded almost like her own.

_Stop it_ , cried the one that was her own.

“Catra!” Adora’s voice jolted her out of her head. She could feel hot blood soaking her sweater and coat sleeve, and knew it was dripping off her hand onto the ground. “Where does Shadow Weaver live?”

“Boys’ side,” she ground out. “Give her to Bow.” Bow and Glimmer had rushed over to see what the commotion was after Catra had screamed, and were staring in shock at Adora and a perfectly obedient Shadow Weaver.

“Look out, Catra,” Bow called teasingly. “Adora is after your job! I didn’t think anyone would be able to get through to Shadow, but my money was on you!”

She could feel her jaw creaking from how hard she was grinding her teeth. “Thanks,” she snapped, closing She-Ra back in her kennel, then heading to the shed to take care of her arm. She had just shrugged out of her coat and lifted the ripped sleeve of her sweater, revealing the four deep puncture wounds dripping blood, when Adora burst through the door.

“Are you okay?” She asked, concern in her limpid blue eyes. Catra huffed and held up the arm as she rifled through the first aid kit.

“What does it look like? Use your eyes, Adora!” She was in no mood to be nice. Her head was pounding, her arm had its own heartbeat, and her pride was wounded greatly.

“I’m so sorry, this is my fault.” The blonde looked like she was on the verge of tears. “Here, let me help you.”

She put her hand on Catra’s arm, and she immediately recoiled. “Don’t touch me!” In some dark, twisted corner of her mind, it wasn’t Adora standing in front of her, but her bitch of a foster-mother, scolding her for messing up the impossible task she had given her, the voice that sounded almost like her own in her head. Catra descended to a new level of resentment, and curled her lip in a feral snarl. “I don’t need your help! All you’ve done today is fuck up! So get it right!”

She blinked, realizing she had just let her inner voice out. Adora’s face was bright in hurt, and guilt pricked sharply at Catra’s stomach. She couldn’t take it back now.

_Well done, fuck up._

“Well at least I’m _trying_!” Adora snapped. Catra couldn’t even look at the hurt, confusion and outrage flashing in Adora’s eyes. “I’m trying to make the most of this, Catra! You won’t tell me what I’m doing right, you only point out when I mess up and I am fucking sick of it!”

Shame is a fire that burns hot when one knows that they have messed up, and for Catra, she felt like she had swallowed an inferno. She knew there was more than Adora wanted to say, but someone else cleared their throat. Catra’s head swung around to see Bow and Glimmer standing awkwardly by the door, looking completely different. Bow looked like he would rather be anywhere else while Glimmer, to her credit, looked like she was ready to murder Catra. She would love to see her try.

“Everything good in here?” Bow asked tentatively. Always the hero.

“Just perfect,” Adora growled, slipping her gloves back on as aggressively as possible. “Someone’s ego is just too big for her to be able to admit she’s not god on earth!”

Catra opened her mouth to retort, but Bow held up a hand. “Catra, why don’t you take a walk, cool down? Glimmer and I can feed. Just... take care of your arm and then take a walk.”

Looking over at Glimmer and seeing the fire in her eyes, Catra managed a curt nod.

***

She took Bow’s advice and took a walk after cleaning her wound. She didn’t even go home first, not with the sight of Adora—fuming mad—stalking towards their shared accommodations. She put her head down and walked into the woods, following the Whispering Woods trail deeper in and away from everyone.

She wasn’t sure how long she was gone. Long enough for her body and her temper to have chilled, and for the poorly wrapped wound to ache and protest to the cold. The skies were violet with the coming twilight and a small smattering of stars were appearing by the time she trudged her way back through the snow for home.

She could hear Adora and Scorpia in the kitchen, talking with hushed tones, but by the time she appeared in the doorway, they were silent. Adora stood and stomped past Catra with hardly more than a steely-eyed glare as she made her way to her room.

When she was gone, Catra turned to face Scorpia. The slightly older woman had a hardened look in her eye and could barely look at Catra as she made pancakes on the stove. Still, it was she who broke the silence first.

“Can you still play?” She asked, voice even though slightly curt. Catra cringed a little. When Scorpia’s voice went like that, it meant she was royally pissed off.

“Yeah,” she sighed. The brown haired girl leaned up against the doorframe. “She told you what happened, then.”

“How you went offside on her after a fight that was an honest to God mistake, yeah. Yeah she did.”

The cringe on her face grew. “Yeah. I know I went too far.” It was said reluctantly, but it was true, and something she rarely admitted to. Scorpia’s face softened and her black eyes were a bit warmer as she glanced once more at Catra.

“What happened, Wildcat?”

She glanced away. She couldn't look at Scorpia and tell her, that was too much. “A lot of things. We fell and I hit my head and got knocked out. Came to with Bow trying to help me. And before that Glimmer was teasing me about flirting with Adora. I don’t know I guess it all went to my head.” Catra wrapped her arms around herself and squeezed. “And I couldn't stop hearing... _her_ voice.”

Now Scorpia turned her full attention onto Catra. Concern radiated off her in waves. “You’re hearing your foster mom's voice again?” It was asked gently, but Catra could feel the weight behind the question.

“Yeah.” She gulped and rubbed the back of her neck. “I swear I’m good, though. It was just a bad day today.”

Almost as though sensing Catra needed a break from the emotions roiling beneath the surface, Scorpia turned back to her flapjacks. “Well I know you’re not one to make excuses. But you know, you can’t let her back in. She’s _gone_ , Catra. You got away. And you’ve turned your life around. We all have bad days, that’s okay. You’re allowed to feel whatever emotions you are feeling. But you are _not_ allowed to take it out on other people. That’s what she did to you, but you won’t do it to anyone else because you know how it feels. Right?”

The white-haired woman handed Catra a plate of pancakes as Catra nodded meekly. “I... I know.”

“Good. Take those pancakes to Adora to apologize and I’ll make you some as well. Is she coming tonight?”

Catra felt a retort rising to her lips purely by instinct, but bit it down, instead shrugging. “I never asked her.”

“Well ask her now! DT will be here in twenty minutes so you better hurry.”

She sighed but nodded, grabbing a fork from the drawer and making her way to where Adora's bedroom was, the door firmly closed and music audible from inside. She knocked once and heard the music lower.

“Adora?” Catra called softly. “I brought food. I know you haven’t eaten since lunch.”

Silence followed. She looked under the door and smiled when she saw Adora’s shadow moving around. “I can see you moving, dummy.” Was called lightly. Adora’s shadow stopped moving and regret ate at Catra for a heartbeat before the door opened. She flinched at how cold the look in her eyes was.

“Here,” she said, thrusting out the pancakes in front of her. “I come bearing a peace offering. I don’t do this a lot, but... I am sorry. I got angry and I’m trying to get better at it. It’s something I’m working on.” She gulped around the stone in her throat and shuffled her feet as Adora just stared at her. “Look, there’s a lot of things you don’t know about me. A lot about today caught me off guard and put me in a bad mood before the fight. But I’m not trying to make excuses. Just know that I’m trying to get better.”

Her eyes drifted down to Adora’s feet as she stood there feeling ridiculous and far too raw. After the silence had stretched on longer than anticipated, and the door had yet to slam in her face, Catra looked back up and almost choked at the look Adora was giving her. A light blush on her cheeks, a half-smile gracing her face and her eyes large and adoring.

“Wait, why are you looking at me like that?” Suddenly it clicked and Catra resisted the urge to slam her head into the wall. “This is _not_ because I like you!”

“I mean, I didn’t say anything,” Adora said finally, a smugness written on her features which made Catra want to smack her. She resisted.

“Ugh, whatever, just take your stupid pancakes!” She laughed as Adora’s smile grew. The blonde reached out and Catra handed the plate over. “By the way, Scorpia and I are doing this thing tonight, I think you should come watch.” She tried not to hold her breath at the emotions flicking across Adora’s face. Finally they settled on regret, and Catra prepared for the worst.

“That sounds lovely, but I promised Bow and Glimmer I would go see a show with them tonight.” For a heartbeat, the rejection stung like a bee. But then she remembered something that Bow had said earlier in the week, and a half-smile grew on Catra’s face.

Adora’s eyes instantly narrowed into suspicion. “What did you do to the pancakes?” She asked in a stage-whisper.

“That’s for me to know and you to never find out!” She winked. Adora laughed a bit warily and then took a forkful of pancake, maintaining eye contact with a Catra the whole time. Bliss erupted onto her face as she let out a moan when the buttery goodness touched her tongue. Catra felt strangely proud, and slightly uncomfortable to have elicited that response from the blonde. “Whatever, loser. About the show I mean. I hope you enjoy it.”She shoved her hands into her pockets and walked away before Adora could recover from the shock of her actually being nice.

Back in the kitchen, Scorpia looked up at her questioningly.

“She will be there,” was all she said.

***

“—And then she apologized?” Adora was telling Bow and Glimmer, relating the events of the evening to her friends. “Now she is acting really nice and I am confused.”

Bow and Glimmer exchanged a look before Bow said, “Maybe she’s taking a new approach at things. I know Catra had some difficulties growing up and it sounds like those feelings were just stirred up.”

Adora sighed impatiently, her elbow thumping down hard onto the table as she rested her head on her hand. They were up at the restaurant a couple of hours after Catra practically shooed her out of the house when she said Bow was picking her up to get ready and they were waiting for a band called The Horde to come onto the little stage at the far end of the dining area and get ready.

“It’s just so hard to get a read on her. I never know what’s going to set her off.”

“Trust me,” Glimmer chuckled. “None of us do. You just gotta take Catra with a grain of salt. She hates the world, you’re not that special.”

Adora harrumphed, then turned to Bow. “So you teach violin lessons?”

“Not all the time. But she asked and I couldn’t say no, especially because I like the way she plays.”

Before Adora could ask anything else, microphone interference blasted over the speaker system. Wincing, Bow, Glimmer and Adora turned to face the stage. Adora had to blink a couple of times to make sure what she saw was real. An impossibly tall and narrow person was at the main mic, their body clothed in a skin tight leather bodysuit that showed off lots of skin and still looked killer. Their platinum blonde hair was shaved on either side, but long down the middle, and gleamed in the spotlight. They had exaggerated eye makeup on that made their greenish-yellow eyes look twice as large, but the part that made Adora do a double-take was their skin. From a distance, it looked greenish-grey, but whenever they moved, the blonde haired girl saw lines of some sort. They were multiple small tattoos all over this person’s body.

“Hey all you dears, peers and gentlequeers,” the person purred out. “I’m Double Trouble and tonight, you will be blown away by the might of the Horde! Prepare yourselves for a set like no other!”

As Double Trouble finished speaking, there was movement behind them and then Scorpia emerged from behind the drum-kit. Adora’s jaw dropped.

“No way!” She gasped as Scorpia took the microphone and waved awkwardly at the crowd. She was dressed to the nines in a black dress with a slit right up to the thigh and hanging off one shoulder. On anyone else, it might’ve looked way too revealing, but with the way Scorpia’s muscles filled it out, it fit her quite nicely.“This is what Catra wanted me to see? I didn’t even know Scorpia could play!”

“Yeah, Scorpia’s a drummer,” Bow said. “Sometimes she will sing too!”

“Hey everyone,” Scorpia said over the mic, running a hand through her slicked back white hair. She sounded way more timid than Adora was used to hearing. “How’s everyone doing tonight? I thought we’d start the night off with something that’s a drinking song back home. It’s a song called The Islander. I hope you enjoy it!”

There was a smattering of applause from the gathered audience who were enjoying their dinner, and Adora beamed up at her roommate, feeling a bit of pride to see her preform. Scorpia made her way back to the drums and the spotlight followed her. Two other forms appeared on the stage but with the light reflecting off the drums, Adora couldn’t see who they were. Before she could ponder it further, Scorpia started a pounding beat on the drums. Then she started singing.

_“I’m a Newfoundlander born and bred and I’ll be one till I die._

_I’m proud to be an Islander and here’s the reason why._

_I’m free as the wind and the waves upon the sand,_

_And there’s no place I would rather be than here in Newfoundland!”_

There was a cheer from a group of people at another table, and someone raised a glass to Scorpia. She smiled and started to get into the song, loosening up with her shoulders dropping and her head bobbing to the rhythm. A bit of an accent, almost like an Irish accent but not quite, entered her voice as she sang.

_“I spent some time in New York State and nearly lost my mind._

_The city life’s too fast for me, nobody had the time,_

_Cement and steel and flashin’ lights was all that I could see._

_It might be good for New York State but it’s no damn good for me!”_

More cheering echoed around the room, people agreeing with the statement who grew up in Etheria’s remote wilderness or the surrounding area. Glimmer and Bow raised their glasses and let out a whoop of encouragement for Scorpia as she repeated the chorus.

_“In Montreal, the Frenchmen say that they own Labrador,_

_Including Indian Harbour where my father fished before._

_And if they want to fight for her, well I’ll surely make a stand._

_Then they’ll regret the day they tried to take our Newfoundland!_

_“I’m a Newfoundlander born and bred and I’ll be one till I die._

_I’m proud to be an Islander and here’s the reason why._

_I’m free as the wind and the waves upon the sand,_

_And there’s no place I would rather be than here in Newfoundland, yep!”_

She let out a small whoop, and the lighting changed on stage to illuminate the other two members, who had been silent until then. A riff on an electric guitar rang out from Double Trouble on the right, but Adora’s jaw dropped as the person on the left picked up a violin and began to play in a beautiful solo supported by the guitar.

“ _Catra_?!” She exclaimed in surprise. She was hardly recognizable. Her thick tangle of hair, which was mostly worn up in a ponytail, had been styled down into a proper mane with tufts sticking up here and there, held in place by a red headpiece that looked like a cat’s face, and she wore a maroon tux over a paler button up shirt. The dress pants she wore were ripped at the knees in perfect Catra style—rough and ragged in such a stylish way—and a bow tie hung untied around her neck in the epitome of lazy carelessness. As her fingers grazed the strings of the fiddle and the bow, Adora could see black fingerless gloves on her hands. Her outfit _did things_ to Adora and her body that she wasn’t sure she knew what it meant.

Beside her, Bow laughed and nudged her. “She’s pretty good eh?” He asked, pride clear on his face.

“You’re kidding! She’s your student?”

“I taught her everything she knows!” He boasted while Glimmer gave him a playful, scolding smack on the chest.

Catra’s solo ended and Scorpia began to sing again.

_“Now that the oil is on our shore, we better take the time_

_To develop it more carefully or else you’re gonna find,_

_What could’ve been the answer to our poor economy_

_Has changed our way of living and destroyed our fishery.”_

As Scorpia reached the last chorus, Double Trouble and Catra joined her to sing. By this time, most of the audience had gotten to their feet and were clapping along. Adora stood as well with her friends, and made her way to the front of the crowd. Catra glanced down at the movement, and when she caught Adora’s eye, she grinned savagely. Adora’s heart thudded in her chest as she saw the brightness in Catra’s eyes, something that was rarely there unless she was making fun of her, or on the dogsled.

The song wound down and cheers erupted from everyone. Bow whistled loud and proud and the blonde haired girl had to laugh at it. Scorpia thanked everyone and then sat back down behind the drums. Once everyone had settled down, Catra took the centre stage. Unlike Scorpia, she made no preamble. She merely switched out her violin for an old, beat up acoustic guitar, stared down the crowd like they were an enemy she was about to defeat in war, and then began to strum her tune.

It was amazing to see the difference. Playing the violin, it was clear that Catra was stiff and uncomfortable, but as soon as her fingers touched the guitar, she melted into it, the crinkle almost permanently on her brow smoothing, and her shoulders dropping as the guitar became an extension of her body. She owned the stage and seemed to disappear into her own world as the music overcame her and her strumming turned into a folk tune. She leaned into the microphone and began to sing.

_“I’ve been down with a broken heart since the day I learned to speak._

_The Devil gave me a crooked start when he gave me crooked feet._

_But Gabriel done came to me and kissed me in my sleep,_

_And I’ll be singing like an angel till I’m six feet deep.”_

Adora was blown away to the point of her jaw nearly hitting the floor by Catra’s voice. It was husky, rich and melodic, with just a hint of raspiness which captivated her entirely. Suddenly she couldn’t think of anything except for the song that Catra was singing. She didn’t even see Catra smirking at her starstruck expression until she began singing the next part.

_“I found myself an omen and I tattooed on a sign,_

_I set my mind a wanderin’ and walked a broken line._

_You have a mind to keep me quiet and although you can try—”_

Catra stopped strumming and stared right at Adora as she sang this verse, a teasing smile on her face. She leaned into the microphone like she was telling a secret.

_“Better men have hit their knees and bigger men have died._

_“I’m gonna raise... Raise Hell!_

_There’s a story no one tells_

_You gotta raise... Raise Hell!_

_Go on now ring that bell!”_

She took a couple steps back and then walked to each of the band members, dancing a bit as she went. As she passed Double Trouble, they gave her a flirtatious wink that had Adora’s stomach twisting weirdly. Scorpia offered her a smile as she paced like an animal around the small space. This time as she began the next verse, her eyes flicked up to Adora and then flicked away. She wasn’t sure if it was the lights or her imagination that created the illusion of a blush on Catra’s cheeks.

_“I came upon a lightning strike and eyes of bright clear blue,_

_I took that tie from around my neck and gave my heart to you.”_

She slipped the untied bow tie off her neck and tossed it out into the crowd with an air of nonchalance. It landed right at Adora’s feet. Her own ears heated immensely as she picked it up while Catra continued.

_“I sent my love across the sea and though I didn’t cry,_

_That voice will haunt my every dream until the day I die.”_

Adora didn’t pay attention to the words during Catra’s next chorus, but she did notice how Catra was avoiding looking at her. Her heart and her mind were a stormy sea, one thought slamming into the other, but the overall message was clear: _What’s going on?_

The second chorus ended and Double Trouble set up a background for a guitar solo that Catra performed. Her hair was flopping into her eyes over the headpiece she wore, and sweat glistened on her cheeks. Her eyes were on fire with the passion the music brought out in her, and her whole body moved with the rhythm of the song. She played the solo up, rocking out with Double Trouble back to back one heartbeat, then smirking viciously at the gathered audience at the front of the stage the next, before moving on and adding her own style to the chords next to Scorpia’s drum set, head bobbing in time with the beat. The wild girl came back to the microphone and slung the guitar onto her back in one fluid motion. Double Trouble stopped strumming as well and all that was left was Scorpia keeping the beat.

_“I dug a hole inside my heart to put you in your grave,_

_At this point it was you or me, and Momma didn’t raise no slave._

_You took my face in both your hands and looked me in the eye—”_

Her eyes slid over to Adora’s briefly before they flew away and landed on the wall behind everyone’s heads.

_“And I went down with such a force that in your grave I’ll lie!”_

As with Scorpia’s song, both Double Trouble and Scorpia joined Catra to in singing the last chorus to finish the song up. Afterwards they sang a couple more songs together, but Adora was too busy caught in the whirlwind of her thoughts.

_When_ had she starting liking Catra as anything more than just an annoying coworker and roommate? What was it about Catra that made Adora want to kiss her all of a sudden? Was it the incredibly rare openness and softness on her face as she sang? Was it the song and the way Catra could barely even look at Adora? Or was it all just her outfit and how incredibly hot and fit she looked in it? Good lord, she was a mess.

She stumbled towards the bar, trying to get some air from the thick mingling crowd around her, but someone bumped into her. She was off-balance, clearly not observant of her surroundings, and she went bowling over. She would have crashed into a nearby table had someone’s rough, calloused hand not caught her’s.

“Easy there, Princess,” came Catra’s growly chuckle. Adora turned and saw the fierce girl holding her hand tightly, the other behind her back. She had a smirk on her face, and an easy sort of confidence in her mismatched coloured eyes. She frowned after a moment as Adora just stared at her. She hadn’t even realized that the music had stopped. “What, are you drunk?”

She shook her head quickly, as Catra pulled her back into an upright position with one hand easily. “N-no no, I was just in my head,” she laughed. “I didn’t know you could play and sing like that!” After a heartbeat, she remembered the scrunched up bow tie in her grip. She held it out quickly. “I believe this belongs to you.”

Catra quirked an eyebrow at the scrap of fabric in her hand, before she took it with a chuckle, not letting their hands brush as she did so. “You never come watch, that’s why.” Her voice was teasing and she nudged Adora playfully, before wincing slightly. Suddenly, Adora remembered the wounds on her arm and realized the arm behind her back was her wounded one.

“Are you alright?” She asked, unable to hide the concern in her voice. Catra took a half step back and shook her head quickly.

“No, yeah, I’m fine. It aches a little bit that’s all.” She smirks and practically drags Adora back towards the rest of the band, who were chatting with Bow and Glimmer. “Come on, why don’t we go downstairs for a nightcap? The bar is gonna close soon.”

***

They ended up staying up until well into the night. Miraculously, most of them were with off the next day, or working late like Scorpia and Glimmer, so it didn’t matter too much how late they stayed up. Most of the night was spent playing different games and discovering everyone’s strengths and weaknesses for future game nights. Double Trouble—which wasn’t actually a stage name, it was their _real name!_ —was unnaturally good at acting games like charades or Heads Up, while Catra dominated poker with her stone mask of indifference and her ability to instigate others into making outrageous bets, and Bow and Glimmer worked best at couples games like Pictionary and Codenames. Adora, to her credit, was able to rock Euchre, Rummy and many other card games, although her inability to act to save her life and her habit of rising to the bait of Catra’s every challenge made it so she often lost as many games as she won. And Scorpia, to everyone’s surprise, made an amazing banker in Monopoly and was soon demanding outrageous things as rent for when people landed on her property. In true Newfie style, she could outbid anyone with a fierce stubbornness and iron backbone.

Some point, at around 2 AM, Catra challenged Bow to a riff-off, violin style. Bow’s violin always lived in the back of his van, which he drove tonight, so he ran out to grab it. It was a lovely, homemade thing. Whereas Catra’s violin was polished, sleek, new and shiny, Bow’s was old, brittle, dented and scratched beyond belief, and was painted white with little hearts on the main body. But he held it tenderly and gently, showing how much he cared for the instrument. The group once again went upstairs to the stage, while Glimmer started recording a video on her cellphone.

“I’ll lead,” Bow said as he and Catra hopped up on stage. Adora leaned over to Glimmer. “What exactly is going on?”

“Sometimes one of us will give them a category, or sometimes Scorpia just starts playing a beat and they have to match it,” Glimmer murmured back, smiling behind the camera. “If one of them makes a whole song, or if the other taps out, then that person wins. Bow dominated all their riff-offs in their lessons.”

“Scorpia! Give us a beat!” Called out Catra. She had that look in her eye like she was ready to go to war and wouldn’t back down without a fight. She grinned at Bow and slung off the tux jacket, tossing it down off the stage. The pinkish button up top looked damp on one arm, but Adora didn’t think too much of it. Scorpia had gotten up on stage, sat behind her drums and started the beat. It was fast, more of a rock beat than Adora would have thought a violin beat sounded like. Bow spaced out for a moment before his gaze cleared and he rose the bow to the strings and began.

It was a very country show-down type feel, but backed by the drum, it sounded almost punk-rocky as well. Beside Adora, Double Trouble was nodding their head to the beat, their odd, yellowish eyes (eye tattoos, they had told everyone earlier in the evening) half-lidded with concentration. Bow played what Adora could only describe as a verse of this music. It was beautiful and his hands moved in graceful arcs that the blonde didn’t even think she could replicate if she tried.

Before he had even finished, Catra’s bow was in her hand and she was playing the same thing he had just played right back to him. As she reached the end, adding her own little flare to it, Double Trouble stood from where they sat at one of the tables, grabbed their electric guitar, and got on stage as well. Both Catra and Bow watched them as they start ripping out chords on the guitar, adding more to the punky feel of the song. While Bow looked slightly lost at first, Catra let out a whoop and started playing more, layering her tune over the sound of the guitar in a rhythm that matched their strumming. Scorpia, who had been silent since they had started on the guitar, resumed her beat.

Bow took the music for a new spin, playing mostly the same chords but in a new format, almost like a chorus. Double Trouble continued to strum in the background and Catra paused to listen to Bow as he made the new rhythm. Yet again, she matched him perfectly after his turn, adding her own flair to it yet again. It was after the “chorus” that things took a new spin. Catra gained confidence and led the next “verse” before Bow could even stop his last note. He looked surprised when she took centre stage, but Glimmer let out a cheer as she did so. Bow wasn’t too used to being bested. As such, when it was his turn, he tried something new, adding in little high notes and low notes that made Adora think of valleys and rises.

Catra scowled but turned to the guitarist and nodded her head. As they started back up in the same tune as before, Catra played along from the start. As the guitar part faded out, Bow tried to jump back in, but once again, Catra overpowered him. She played the first part of their mini chorus, but Bow was not out of the race yet. He jumped in before she stopped playing and Adora saw Catra laugh at Bow’s determined doggedness. She waited until he finished before she took up the song, furthering it further. She played an all new tune and she _danced_.

Adora didn’t even know Catra could dance but could she ever. She taunted Bow with the way she played, a jiggy sort of tune which had her dancing into his space and forcing him back a few steps. Adora couldn’t help the cheer that erupted from her throat. Bow scowled and began matching her tune. It was indeed a battle. On every beat, Bow took a step closer to Catra. Scorpia increased the beat the closer they got, leading to an amazing build up for a beat drop. Both of them paused with Scorpia. They glanced at each other as if wondering who was going to start it again. After a moment, Catra’s eyes met Bow’s. A tiny nod was passed to the male.

As soon as they began working on the chorus one last time at the same time, Scorpia dropped the beat. Adora didn’t know how they knew, but they both stopped playing at the end of their chorus, ending it strongly and together.

Glimmer and Adora cheered loudly for their friends as the band and Bow bowed to them. Catra was once again holding her arm behind her back. They made their way back downstairs, tidying up and turning lights off as they went. It had been determined that both the violinists were the winner, and that it was bed time. Almost wordlessly, everyone started drifting towards their sleep spots; Double Trouble on the couch, and Bow and Glimmer sharing the fourth bedroom. Adora headed towards her’s, but at the last minute, turned and looked at Catra. The girl, who thought no one was looking, had her arm out from behind her, and she was staring at it. The damp spot was darker, and Adora could see red soaking through the fabric.

“Is your wound open again?” She called softly. Catra jumped but frowned at her.

“What do you care?” She growled. Adora flashed her an unimpressed glare. She winced and her blue-and-gold eyes flashed as she relaxed her shoulders and wrapped her arms around herself. “A little,” she admitted at last.

The blonde softened and held out a hand. “Let me fix it for you?”

There was a pause, but then a rough hand was entering her’s, and Catra took a step forward. “Okay.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m not sure if anyone else is triggered by dogfights, but I am. I included the trigger warning and purposefully left the fight rather vague because I could not go into detail. Both the dog accident and the fight are things that happened to me while at work. My friend actually blacked out and scared the crap out of me, and I witnessed a dog fight that scared the utter crap out of me. It was a complete accident that it happened and everyone ended up fine except me. I had to go to the hospital and now I have chunks missing from my leg.
> 
> So yeah basically Scorpia is a Newfoundlander lmao she is absolutely sweet and kind until someone threatens the way she lives or someone she loves and then she goes full on WARRIOR on their ass hahah
> 
> The song she sings is called the Islander by The Navigators
> 
> The song Catra sings is from the Catra playlist, Raise Hell by Brandi Charlie
> 
> The song Catra and Bow play is Roundtable Rival by Lindsay Stirling! Look it up on YouTube it is EPIC! 
> 
> If you have any questions or want to tell me what you are enjoying or not enjoying, please feel free to drop a comment or find me on Tumblr! @the-voice-in-the-dark!

**Author's Note:**

> How did you guys like it? Feel free to follow me on tumblr, @the-voice-in-the-dark. Let me know if you enjoyed it or have any questions!


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